Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim will be making his first working visit to Brunei as Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs from Nov 24 to 25. In a statement on Sunday (Nov 23), the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said that Assoc Prof Faishal's visit is intended to strengthen ties and build rapport with Bruneian ministers and religious leaders.When in Brunei, Assoc Prof Faishal will meet with Brunei's Minister of Religious Affairs Badaruddin Othman, Minister of Home Affairs Ahmaddin Rahman and State Mufti Abdul Aziz Juned. The acting minister will also visit religious institutions including the Balai Khazanah Islam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, which is used to store artefacts with Islamic heritage. Assoc Prof Faishal will be accompanied by senior officials from Muis on the trip.The acting minister was in Saudi Arabia and Jordan from Nov 6 to 11, also for a working visit. 

SINGAPORE – Over the last 25 years, Madam Amidah Sufaat, 71, has started her day at the crack of dawn, preparing meals for pupils at West View Primary School.“Old students of the school still remember me. I have also catered for some of their weddings because they like my food so much,” she said.Soon, the aroma of her fried chicken will no longer waft through the canteen during recess. The school will be switching to a central kitchen model in 2026, catering from Chang Cheng Mee Wah Food Ind.Instead of queueing up in front of different canteen stalls, pupils will pick up pre-ordered meals from automated meal dispensers.Madam Amidah will be joining the new vendor, not as a cook but helping with the logistics when the food trays arrive at the school every morning.“I will miss serving the teachers and the children my food, but the student numbers have fallen over the years, so it is becoming more challenging,” she said.

The strongest link in Singapore's defence ecosystem is every Singaporean playing a part in defending the nation, said Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing. Speaking during his visit to Navy@Vivo 2025 on Sunday (Nov 23), Chan said that threats have evolved to become more complex and extensive.«The mission sets for the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) have become much more complex. The sea lines of communications, the air lines of communications, that we have to secure have become much more extensive.»The threat challenges have become more complicated,« Chan said.Referring to Singapore's finite manpower and resources, the defence minister said Singapore will have to »constantly look at the future" to find ways to overcome the challenges.An encouraging sign, however, has been members of the public wanting the government to share more on how the threats are evolving and what they can do in their respective areas.

From «furnace» to «red light district» — some Bukit Merah residents in a recently repainted HDB estate have raised complaints about the colour choice for their blocks.One resident who has lived in the area for 20 years told Shin Min Daily News that the bright red colour for Blocks 12 to 14 is «visually uncomfortable».The light reflected from the building's exterior also left his kitchen «awash in red» during the afternoon, he said. The colour reflected by the red paint left his kitchen «awash in red» during the afternoon, said one resident. PHOTO: TikTok/Shin Min Daily News «To put it bluntly, it looked like a red-light district!» exclaimed the 59-year-old photographer, surnamed Wen.Wen stated that after he lodged a complaint to the town council in September, workers had repainted part of the exterior wall outside his kitchen white.

Some 4,634 Singapore drivers have been fined a total of RM1.39 million (S$436,400) for various Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) violations since enforcement began on July 1.In a Facebook post on Saturday (Nov 22), the Malaysia's Road Transport Department (JPJ) said 65,039 Singapore-registered vehicles were checked at various checkpoints since the enforcement started. These include the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI), the Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) checkpoints across from Woodlands and the Second Link, and various locations across JB.The figures were shared by JPJ Deputy Director-General of Planning & Operations, Jazmanie bin Shafawi, at a press conference in JB on Friday (Nov 21) night.Some 159 summonses were also issued between Nov 15 and 20 to vehicles, including privately owned and company-owned ones, that were still under VEP pre-registered status.The summonses were also issued to vehicles that had either not registered for a VEP or had an expired VEP.

JOHANNESBURG - Flexible multilateralism is one way forward as the world works out how to reform the global institutions and rules to address today's challenges, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit on Nov 22.This means that instead of being paralysed by old ways of doing things, smaller groups can start laying the foundations for a refreshed system through plurilateral agreements, with others coming on board later.Countries should also build new partnerships, linking up regions, blocs and like-minded economies in mutually beneficial ways, he added.PM Wong made these points on the opening day of the historic summit in Johannesburg, during a working session attended by leaders of the world's biggest economies.The meeting this year is the first ever to be held in an African country. South Africa, as G-20 president, has focused the attention on issues affecting the world's poorest nations, such as widening economic inequality and debt sustainability for developing countries.

Hong Kong said on Nov 21 that Singapore's Acting Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth, David Neo, has apologised after he was heard calling the Chinese city's football players and fans «idiots» following the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier.The comments were made after Singapore's 2-1 win in Hong Kong on Nov 18, which secured the Lions a place at the 2027 Asian Cup on merit for the first time since they featured as the host nation in 1984.In an Instagram livestream from one of the visiting players' accounts, Neo was seen praising the team's performance. «It was fantastic…you kena pressured by them, all the fans were bloody idiots, end up players also played like idiots [sic]... But you all played like lions,» he said then.

It was a heartwarming exchange which went viral, and not something Station Inspector (SI) Ramdzan had expected. A Malaysian fishing boat had accidentally drifted into Singapore waters on Nov 15, but the friendly interaction with Police Coast Guard SI Ramdzan left such a good impression on one of the anglers that he ended up posting the exchange on social media.In the clip posted on Nov 18, SI Ramdzan had gently assured the anglers with good humour that checks had to be conducted, putting them at ease.The patrol officer shared in a Facebook post by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Friday (Nov 21) that he did not know he was being recorded and was «completely caught off guard» when he found out about the viral video.«I was a bit worried at first because you never know how these things will be perceived.»

A man has been arrested after he was spotted at the Geylang Serai Market taxi stand dancing and interacting with members of the public boarding cabs. In a video shared on SG Road Vigilante Facebook Group on Nov 20, the individual, who donned a red cap, would help passengers open taxi doors and load their items into the vehicle's boot. Once the cars drove off, he would animatedly signal for the next vehicle to come forward by dancing and rolling his arms. He was also seen assisting an elderly person in a wheelchair down the slope and into a taxi. Throughout this, two police officers stood by and watched him. At several points of the clip, the man would gesticulate at the police in a seemingly frustrated manner. «Singapore Police officers looked bewildered while man provide doorman services that rival Narajan Singh at Raffles Hotel,» read the video caption. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they received a call for assistance at 1 Geylang Serai on Nov 19 at about 11.10am. 

Transport operator SBS Transit will take disciplinary action against one of its traffic inspectors seen shouting at an elderly man who had jumped the queue at the Johor Bahru checkpoint bus stop. In a video uploaded onto Facebook page The SG Daily on Friday (Nov 21), the elderly man was seen pointing at the traffic inspector before the SBS Transit staff member raised his voice and appeared to shout an expletive while gesticulating at the older man. As the traffic inspector yelled «go back», a commuter already on the bus pulled the elderly man onto the vehicle. According to the video caption, the incident happened on Nov 20 at around 7.10pm. A witness shared that they were sitting in the front row of the bus when the incident occurred.They recounted that the elderly man had tried to skip the queue, claiming he was sick and needed to get on the bus.He later began arguing with the bus staff member and had allegedly threatened to hit someone. 

SINGAPORE – Lions fans can breathe a sigh of relief as their hero of the hour Ilhan Fandi will not be out for long, despite earlier concerns that he might have suffered a serious injury after his heroics in the 2-1 Asian Cup qualifying win in Hong Kong on Nov 18.Holding a crutch and with his left foot in a protective boot, the 23-year-old arrived at Changi Airport the following day with the rest of the Singapore team and headed straight to the hospital for checks.The doctor told him on Nov 20 that there was no fracture.However, there was some soft tissue injury in his left leg and he is expected to be out for three to four weeks.Ilhan will remain in Singapore for physiotherapy before returning to Thai giants Buriram United, where he is on loan from parent club BG Pathum United, on Nov 27.He told The Straits Times: “At first, I thought it was something bad because I heard a loud crack in my left foot and was very worried. Thank God, it was not as serious as I feared.“I’m thankful for all the concern from the fans. I was just doing my job and these things can happen. The most important thing was that we qualified for the Asian Cup.

The rail reliability task force has made «good progress» in developing measures to improve the performance of Singapore's train network, said the expert panel appointed to advise the group on its findings.Panel member Dr Tony Lee, who was formerly operations and innovation director at Hong Kong's MTR, made the remark on Friday (Nov 21) as he wrapped up his five-day visit here.Representing the other international rail experts on the panel — Patrick Bauchart, Dr Cai Chang Jun, Professor Tsay Huel-Sheng and Kon Shinichiro — Dr Lee told reporters that they have reviewed the preliminary findings and suggestions of the LTA-led task force.«We are genuinely impressed by the remarkable progress made in such a short time,» he said, referring to the formation of the task force in September 2025 following a spate of train disruptions.

A campaign aimed at promoting awareness about drink-driving and responsible behaviour on the roads has returned following a rise in the number of arrests.The annual initiative known as the Anti-Drink Drive Campaign is organised by the traffic police (TP) and typically runs during festive periods with community outreach and enforcement operations.Speaking at the launch of the 2025 campaign at Clarke Quay on Friday (Nov 21), Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Sim Ann said that there were 94 drink-driving accidents from January to August this year —  a 17 per cent dip from 113 during the same period in 2024. But arrests have increased by four per cent to 1,173 from 1,130.«These numbers showed that there are still motorists who continue to take reckless risks with their own lives and that of other road users,» said Sim.The senior minister of state also cited recent cases this year, including a 56-year-old veteran criminal lawyer who was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on Nov 7 for driving, while drunk, into the central guard railings and then lying to the police that he was not the driver.

A total of 185 people, including 173 students and 12 staff members, across six E-Bridge pre-schools developed gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food supplied by the same caterer.Gastroenteritis is commonly known as stomach flu or food poisoning.In a joint media statement by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) on Friday (Nov 21), they said they are investigating six incidents of gastroenteritis at the E-Bridge pre-schools in Bukit Panjang, Canberra, Montreal and Woodlands Drive; at Block 471B Yishun Street 42 and Block 504 Yishun Street 51.Among those affected, one student was hospitalised but is now in a stable condition, while others have either sought outpatient treatment, self-medicated or since recovered without treatment.The agencies said that all six pre-schools had their meals supplied by Middleton International School Pte Ltd — located at 2 Tampines Street 92.